The Louvre Goes APESH**T

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Drake remains the world’s most meme-able rapper. In the short time since his new album dropped, Scorpion has not only shattered streaming records but also inspired a viral social media phenomenon called the #InMyFeelingsChallenge (also known as #TheShiggy). It all started when popular influencer Shiggy posted a video of himself doing a dance to Drake’s “In My Feelings.” Shiggy’s 1.2 million followers took the dance and ran with it, recreating the video and putting their own spin on it. It gained even more popularity when celebs like NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. and singer Ciara posted their own #InMyFeelingsChallenge videos. With over 60K posts under the hashtag on Instagram, The Shiggy has officially become the dance of summer 2018.

Jaden Smith, son of celebrities Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, is the ultimate Gen Z. Whether it’s wearing a Batman suit to the prom or bringing his own hair as an accessory to the Met Gala, the young mogul/actor/philosopher/musician knows how to make a statement. As such, it’s no surprise that he chose the newly launched IGTV platform to drop his latest album, SYRE: The Electric Album. Consisting of reworked electric guitar versions of songs off his debut album, SYRE, Smith’s latest offering is now available to stream as a video on his account, complete with visuals of pink skies, floating cars, and general Jaden Smith awesome weirdness. A trend setter through and through, we wouldn’t be surprised to see other artists taking a cue from Smith with IGTV drops of their own.

Unless you’ve been living under a soundproof rock, you’ve likely heard that Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z dropped a joint album entitled Everything is Love under the moniker The Carters. The power couple also released the video for one of the album’s tracks, “APES**T,” which takes place entirely in the Louvre. Throughout the video, the hyper-cultured Carters highlight and recreate select works from the collection. Now, the Louvre is smartly offering visitors a 90-minute self-guided tour featuring all 17 paintings and sculptures that appear in the music video. No doubt due to the popularity of the video, which has over 66 million views and counting on YouTube, the tour goes to show that not only are The Carters excellent artists themselves, they are master curators as well.

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Queer brand Official Rebrand has launched the perfect new collection to complement everyone’s summer body no matter their gender. Created by non-binary designer MI Legget’s, the “Queer the Beach” collection is housed in the world’s first ever gender-free shopping space, New York’s The Phluid Project. Within the colorful space, consumers can shop for the uniquely styled adjustable suits made from unconventional and sustainable fabrics that are designed to fit different body types. For example, the bandana beach top works for all chests regardless of size and is meant to be both mentally and physically freeing from beachwear styles that already exist. Seen on the likes of rising gender-fluid star and singer Merlot, we wouldn’t be surprised to see other influencers rocking the suits this summer as well.

A new app by beloved reality stars Giuliana and Bill Rancic, PEAR is quickly becoming a trusted authority on modern parenting. Available on both iOS and Android, the freemium app provides relevant content, podcasts, and a community forum where parents can engage with peers as well as expert contributors, including child psychologists, nutritionists, and doctors. Unlike other sites around the web, Pear-ents can trust that the information they learn about nutrition, activities, travel, relationships, and medical info is accurate and up-to-date. Moreover, they can hone in even further based on if they are expecting, have an infant, toddler, little kid, big kid, or teenager. As Millennials continue to raise their mini-mes, PEAR is shaping up to be ideal for parents who are looking for guidance online every step of the way.

Plastic straws are officially passé. Following McDonald’s announcement a few months ago pledging fully sustainable packaging by 2025, Starbucks has just declared it will remove all plastic straws globally by 2020. To mark the company’s thirty-year history in incorporating sustainable practices, Starbucks has backed this commitment with $10M to ensure that the entire company launches a fully compostable and recyclable solution. The move towards new recyclable, straw-less lids and alternative material options will reduce more than 1 billion plastic straws from their stores per year and is already being incorporated in over 8000 locations in the United States for select drinks. Refusing to sit on the sideline on important issues such as pollution and environmental sustainability, we give Starbucks (as well as McDonald’s) props for taking responsibility and tackling these challenges head-on, a move that’s sure to win them points with Millennial and Gen Z consumers.